Birthdays, Bikes and Bruises

I have been trying to slow down a little bit and enjoy my mornings with Sam. He has afternoon preschool so we have mornings together, which are often spent with visits to the dry cleaners, Target, and the grocery store.

I have been attempting to spend some more quality time with him and skip the trip to Target, as in a few short weeks he will graduate from preschool.

The start of kindergarten is essentially the beginning of a long road that takes him further and further away from me…..GULP.

There have been many times that I have wished for the speedy arrival of the day that both of my children are in some sort of full-day institution under the guidance of qualified professionals.

Let’s face it, I am many things but “qualified” is not one of them. Additionally, since the time from when I drop off Sam at preschool until the time that I have to go back and pick him up is approximately 15 minutes, I look forward to having an entire day to myself! This is has been 7 years coming, I deserve it!

I long for the day when I can go to the gym AND the store AND take a shower!!! Now I have to make a choice. If I exercise, I only have time to do one other thing – and showering doesn’t always fit into the equation. There have many times that I have shown up sweaty and hideous, straight from a work-out to pick up Sam at preschool.

It will be quite luxurious to have 8 hour fall days to myself to do everything I want to do!!

Right? Wait, maybe not. Maybe it will be devastating to have Sam gone. Now that this time that I have longed for, is on the horizon, I am having second thoughts. I am feeling a little nostalgic and a panic-stricken.

Did I enjoy any of my time home with my kids or did I just yell at them since they were born and wish that they were in college?

I have been making a greater effort to appreciate my time with Sam.

This week was very special because he turned 5! I don’t know how my little tiny baby turned 5 so quickly…..but I made a great effort to make sure it was perfect. This perfection entailed lots of emphasis on LEGO NINJAGO– his current obsession. Apparently, LEGO isn’t too big into merchandising – so I had to really be creative with this theme.

I got these labels from my friend Nancy at “Sugar Coated Designs” – and I just had to get candy and fill them!!

I made these cups….(with help)

The really fancy part of the festivities was the cake. A friend made this cake as a surprise for Sam……

Every single piece of this cake is made out of sugar…every little guy and every little sword and every Lego is edible. The only thing I did, was try to make the picture look like it says “SAM” to retain my anonymity.

Each kid got to take home a LEGO Ninjago Spinnerand I hired an amazing face painter who also gave the kids glitter Star Wars tattoos.

My sister-in-law got Sam his own personal cape. It was the happiest two hours of his life.

He learned in one night with Mr. Gaga’s help. He woke up the next morning, finished his breakfast, hopped off his stool and said very casually,

“I think I will go for a bike ride.”

He has been riding his bike up and down the street ever since.

There he goes…..without me or anyone helping him. I can be found behind that hedge hysterically crying and considering if I should have another baby since this one is apparently an adult.

He goes so fast on the bike and it breaks my heart a little bit to see him so old and independent.

Saturday night we went to my parent’s house and stayed over. In the morning, I decided to go for a run. Michael often comes with me on his bike and I thought it would be exciting for Sam to join in since he could now keep up with us on his “big-boy bike.”

I had to keep yelling at both of them to stay close to the grass because there are no sidewalks in my mother’s neighborhood, and they have a tendency to not pay attention to where they are riding – but aside from that they did awesome.

We went down 3 hills and Sam did a great job – using his brakes. A few times I caught him watching his brother or daydreaming as his bike veered into the middle of the road.

“SAM!! Watch where you are going!!!” I would yell and he would snap to it and go back where he was supposed to. Other than that we had no major problems. Life was good.

We were about a mile and a half into the run and making our way back to my parent’s house.

The sun was shining and it was an absolutely beautiful morning.

I was thinking, “I could get used to this. Maybe it’s not so bad to have two older boys!”

Michael was in front of me riding his bike as fast as he could. We were rounding a corner and Sam was behind me trying to catch up to his brother.

I was sweating but keeping up a good pace, rocking out to “Call Me Maybe,” on my Ipod.

Out of nowhere – in a quick flash – I felt hot rubber crawling up the back of my legs. My feet were twisted and tangled into something metal.

It happened so fast – I didn’t even know what was happening.

I screamed and put my hands out – but only one hand made it out in time.

My left shoulder smashed onto the hot pavement at the same time as both of my knees.

As soon as I fell down, Sam was pulling his bike off of me. Michael had stopped and made his way back towards us.

Disoriented, I immediately rolled into a seated position on the street and sat staring at my sand and gravel-encrusted hand and bloody knees.

“SAM!!! You have to watch where you are going!!” I yelled.

Both kids looked down at me in speechless horror.

I had to get back to the house to assess the damage – but didn’t want to freak out the kids too badly, especially Sam who 2 minutes ago was the most proud he had ever been in his life.

Tears threatened to break through, as I stood up and felt sharp pains in my shoulder, wrist and both knees.

“Ok, let’s take a short-cut home, “I said calmly as I started jogging through an empty lot that would take us home quicker.

“Don’t run, Mama,” Michael yelled. I should have walked – but I was going to cry and I was completely working off adrenaline at that point.

We got home and I ran into the bathroom and cried hysterically while I dabbed at my bloody wounds and gasped for air.

Even thought it was an accident, I was so angry. I do everything I can for this kid and this is the thanks I get.

Mr. Gaga got me some bags of ice and some water.

In between tears I cried, “I just don’t want to be fat….IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK???”

After all of my wounds were iced and cleaned – they didn’t look so bad.

This knee is the thanks I get for the totally awesome Ninjago party favors……

And this knee is the thanks I get for the totally awesome LEGO NINJAGO cake….

Thankfully I was wearing a short-sleeve shirt – so my shoulder is badly bruised and hurts but it’s not as bad as it would have been if I was wearing a tank-top.

My entire body is in pain from the impact of the fall. My knees are jacked up – and I probably won’t be exercising anytime soon.

This is not how I wanted to make my appearance the first day on the beach.

Battered and bruised and bloody.

And fat.

Maybe some time to exercise alone in the fall- won’t be so bad after all.

SINCE I AM A COMPLETELY TORTURED INDIVIDUAL WHO TELLS YOU HER LIFE STORY EACH WEEK – THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS CLICK THE BANNER BELOW TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I AM VERY FUNNY!! XO, LADY GOO GOO GAGA

see? exercise IS dangerous. well – no, actually, it’s not, but think about all the stories you can tell people at the beach: fell off the climbing wall, took a tumble climbing (insert local mountain top here), was rollerblading…etc etc etc. Or maybe you foiled a burglary? … And, just FYI, I can never ever show my kids (lego junkies still, even at 7 & 11) your ninjago party: totally fantastic!!

Hope Sam and Michael weren’t too traumatized by seeing their mother flat out on the road. Hope you’re feeling better, Sorry, but I was giggling at the thought of you laying there; I giggle at wakes too!

As much as I love my kids, I loved them more when they started school full time. I used to split my vacation time – half for times they were off of school and half for when they were in school. I can’t say I ever even felt guilty about it.

Ouch! Those knees look painful! That cake was gorgeous! A friend of mine made her own Lego Ninjago cake with a bunch of different fondant Lego Ninjas. Very impressive and the kids loved it. I just go to Costco.

OUCH!! I’m glad you weren’t hurt even worse! I know what you mean about trying to enjoy every minute with them. They grow up so fast. My little guy, Mase, is so very attached to me. He starts full day preschool in the fall and while I know it will be amazing for him, my heart breaks a little at the thought. It’s hard watching them grow up.

On the days I’m fantasizing about my kids going off to school and leaving me alone a shower, and workout is always part of my dream. You seriously got beat up! Are you trying to get sympathy votes? (JK!) This was great! I’m glad you’re trying to spend this time with Sam. He’s one lucky birthday boy!

OMG girl! That sounds (and looks!) like a serious wipe out. Just when I was enjoying the lovely birthday festivities and ogling that wicked cake!
Hope you’re ok. Happy Birthday to your sweet boy. And know that I long, LONG for 1 hour to myself let alone a glorious full day.
Enjoy every minute.

I absolutely loved this. I know you’re so sad to see them go, but at least no one will run over you with their bike for the majority of the day anyway. I can so see this happening to me. Lil’ P. just hit me over the head with his plastic golf club!